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Defensive Structure
A Defensive Structure is a structure that provides protection and security on certain positions or objectives. They keep sectors protected from enemy combatants and friendly units supported. The primary defensive structures are built by dedicated units such as the Pioneer Squads for the Axis, the Engineer Squad for the Allies, the Luftwaffe Ground Force for the Panzer Elite and the Sappers for the British forces. Infantry such as Riflemen Squad, Volksgrenadier Squad, Infantry Section can also build defensive emplacements, depending on the situation that they encounter. But unlike dedicated builder units, they can only build structures that will help them fight, but is dependent on the infantry that built it to continue functioning. Light Defensive Structures These structures are mere scraps of material, built to complement infantry on the field. These makeshift barriers are a great way to impede incoming tanks and infantry. And as a bonus, all these types of structures are built for free. Sandbags These are mere bags of sand, stacked on top of each other to provide cover against enemy infantry. It provides heavy cover for the nearest infantry hiding from it, whether it be a friendly unit or an enemy. A perfect cover for a defensive or to dig in on enemy territory with little casualties involved. They also impede enemy infantry, forcing them to take other routes. But their usefulness dwindles away once the personnel occupying it dies. Any medium and heavy vehicles can crush these structures without difficulty. Explosives, mortar and artillery fire can also destroy it easily. Barbed Wire These are wires knotted together in such a way that they have sharp points sticking out on every segment. An excellent defensive structure against infantry, as they impede them from passing through a specific area and if used strategically, can route enemy infantry to a kill zone, or to force them to take a more dangerous route. Unfortunately, it can be destroyed by force-firing it with explosives and artillery, or if available, have an Engineer squad or Pioneer squad to cut the wires and let friendly infantry pass through. Also, medium and heavy vehicles can trample over it, carving a path through any well made barbed wire with ease. Tank Traps Tank traps, as the name implies, is the vehicular version of barbed wire. Either made of thick sheets of steel (Allies) or made of hard nodes of reinforced "Dragon's teeth" concrete (Axis), they are sturdy enough to not let any vehicles and tanks pass through. Just like barbed wires, they can be used to route enemy vehicles to a kill zone. They also provide heavy cover for infantry. But, these are also vulnerable to explosives, albeit they can take more punishment than barbed wires or sandbags. Also, Some of Axis' best tanks like the Panther or the King Tiger can simply crush them with their immense weight. Due to their spacing, they are loose enough for enemy infantry to pass through - it is advised to use it in conjunction with barbed wires and other defensive structures. Medium Defensive Structure Small, quickly constructed fixed emplacements primarily effective against infantry. All factions have at least one; though the cost, quality, and role varies. All medium defensive structures specialize in suppressing and eliminating infantry through either enfillade fire or saturation shelling (in the case of the mortar pit). They are significantly tougher than Light defensive structures and provide medium to heavy perimeter defense. American Allies use one Medium defensive structure, the Machine Gun Emplacement. A single emplacement can suppress and pin down infantry with ease and can also provide garrison for 6 personnel. Building one costs 200 manpower and 15 fuel and an Engineer Squad is required to build one. Because it doesn't add to the population cap, it can be built infinitely as long as there are available supplies. Wehrmacht The Germans also employ Medium defense, which is in the form of Bunkers built by any available Pioneer Squad .Each one costs 150 manpower to construct, 50 less manpower than the allies' version and does not require fuel. But, on its own, it is useless other than providing heavy garrison for 12 personnel. It must be upgraded to provide one of three available add-ons: An MG42 emplacement, a medical station, or a vehicle repair station. One upgrade costs 50 munitions and one upgrade can only be purchased per bunker. Panzer Elite The Panzer Elite on its own has no defensive structures because it will restrict their mobility, and will not complement their tanks and vehicles. However, the Luftwaffe Tactics were used, the Luftwaffe Ground Force will be available to construct some of the Panzer Elite's best defensive structures, mainly the 20mm Flak 38. It is the only Medium defensive structure available to this faction. It can attack air and ground targets, and can mow down infantry more effectively than the Axis and Allies counterparts. It costs 300 manpower and 30 fuel to construct and adds 6 to the population cap. British The British specializes on entrenchments and heavy defenses, and it is obvious that they have the best defensive structures available in the game. So much so, that their basic Infantry Section can build most of their defensive structures. And instead of light defensive structures, they have three medium defenses available: A Vickers Gun Emplacement, a 3" Mortar Emplacement, and a Slit Trench. Heavy Defensive Structure These structures are capable of holding onto a sector. They are usually found in high-capacity sectors that provide abundant amounts of fuel and munitions. Most of these structures are capable of taking down tanks and aircraft and are expensive to build. American Unfortunately, the Americans have no stationary heavy defensive structure. They do however, have a mobile anti-tank emplacement, the M1 57mm Anti Tank Gun to cope with this. Wehrmacht The Wehrmacht's heavy defensive structure is doctrine-specific and is the bane of every plane and tank. With the Defensive Doctrine, a Pioneer Squad can build the fearsome 88mm Flak 36 anti-tank/aircraft direct-fire artillery piece. It can effectively destroy tanks and aircraft at long ranges. Panzer Elite Like its Axis counterpart, the Panzer Elite also deploys the 88m Flak and is also doctrine specific. If the Luftwaffe Tactics is chosen, the Luftwaffe Ground Force can then be cleared to build it. British The heavy defenses employed by the British is the best in the game. Sappers are capable of building the three main heavy defenses in the British arsenal: The Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun, and the dreaded 17 Pounder AT Gun. Artillery Structures Although they are not specified to defend sectors in the same way that the other structures do, they provide fire support and offensive capabilities to its allies. From afar, they can bombard any installation and incoming forces without the consequence of taking casualties. American The American's artillery piece is doctrine-specific. With the Infantry Company, an Engineer squad can build the M2 105mm Howitzer. In the right conditions, it can reach as far as half of the map and can destroy an enemy base in mere minutes of its deployment. Alongside the Armor Company can deploy the Sherman Calliope. Although it is not an artillery structure, It is a mobile artillery platform capable of bombarding units at long ranges. On earlier builds of the game, it is merely an M4 Sherman with a rocket barrage capability - short ranged and uses a huge amount of munitions, exactly 125 munitions. But on the latter builds, this Sherman variant becomes a dedicated mobile artillery piece; it can barrage at extremely long ranges and does not cost any munitions, but at the expense of not being able to use its main gun and machine gun. Wehrmacht Unfortunately, The Wehrmacht has no artillery structure, despite having the most amount of artillery emplacements in the history of the war. Instead, this faction utilizes two mobile artillery platforms: The Nebelwerfer and the SdKfz 251 Half-track with a Wurfrahmen 40 attachment called "Walking Stuka" due to the distinctive sound the rockets made when fired. Both are very effective when used in numbers, as their wide radius and long range can devastate large swaths of area. Panzer Elite Like its counterpart, it has no artillery structure. But it does have two mobile artillery platforms, one is a reward unit: the Hotchkiss Light Tank which can be upgraded to a Walking Stuka as described above, though this can only have 4 rockets for 100 munitions, the other is doctrine-specific. With the Scorched Earth Tactics, you can call in a Hummel 150mm self-propelled howitzer to the battlefield. British The British are the champions of artillery. This is even emphasized with an artillery-centered command tree, the Royal Artillery Support. Even without this command tree, Sappers are capable of building 25 Pounder Gun Howitzers without any requirement, as long as there are enough resources and population cap to support them. With the Royal Artillery Support used, their howitzers and artillery units can have the Supercharge Artillery rounds upgrade, increasing their range to almost twice their original range, enabling them to hit as far as the other side of the battlefield from the safety of the other end. Also, with the said command tree, the M7 Priest self-propelled howitzer is unlocked and will complement the artillery-specialized faction. It is also affected by the Supercharge Artillery upgrade. Explosive Defenses Underhanded, sneaky, yet effective. These explosive devices can create an illusion of safety for incoming enemy forces.Once triggered, the enemy will be caught off-guard and will make a tremendous amount of effort to either rid of these devices or choose another path...which may be peppered with mines, creating confusion. Mines All factions are able to plant mines with their respective units for a nominal munitions cost. These are concealed, and can inflict casualties to infantry, and damage engines and treads of tanks and vehicles, or destroy light ones. A road littered with these is a killing field for tanks and personnel alike Teller Mines These are mines are designed in such a way that they only detonate when a large weight is applied on it, giving it an anti-vehicle role. Infantry can pass through this type of mine safely while any enemy tank will definitely be damaged. This mine has more explosives than a conventional mine, damaging vehicles even more. The Panzer Elite's Tank Destroyer tactics unlocks this capability. Butterfly bombs SD-2 Butterfly Bombs are deployed by aircraft and are dropped down on a selected area. These are anti-personnel mines, and are ineffective against vehicles. Again, the Panzer Elite employs this kind of tactic through Luftwaffe tactics. It costs 100 munitions to deploy these bombs. But these mines have their counters however. The Americans can upgrade their Engineer squad with mine detectors to spot and remove mines, and a M4 Sherman with a mine flail that can clear out a path for incoming vehicles. The Wehrmacht has the same upgrade for their Pioneer squad, but they have no vehicles to counter this defense. The Panzer Elite however, due to them lacking any dedicated builder units, all of their Panzer Grenadiers can be upgraded to spot mines and remove them. The British can have their Sappers with a mine detector, and the Churchill Tank can be upgraded to have mine plows. Booby traps This sort of explosive is specific for one faction only, the Panzer Elite's Scorched Earth Tactics. Panzer Grenadiers can be instructed to plant booby traps on buildings and on strategic points, denying any enemy infantry from garrisoning a structure by blowing it up, or by stopping a squad's capture operations by killing them. *